Social Injustice In China

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How did the media affect the Beijing Olympics and what was the affect on social injustice?





Jeremy Bassat
Caren Silver










The Beijing Olympics was a glorious display of Chinese culture. Since The Communist Party of China is the singular ruling party in China, the media is controlled by the state. Therefore, the influx of international media to the Chinese platform throughout the Beijing Olympics was expected to highlight the social injustices that exist in the totalitarian state. Throughout history, international media, and the political protection that it possesses, has allowed a stifled society a voice to protest against the controlling state. But surprisingly, the Chinese people didn’t use the media as an outlet to remonstrate, …show more content…

China currently rules the Tibet region. Tibetans desire autonomy , the right of self-government. The conflict between the two began in 1950, when the Chinese took over Tibet . The oppression of religion and freedom of speech, as well as the constant rejection of Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has caused anger . This has caused at least 148 self-immolations in Tibet since 2009 , as a form of protest over the Chinese rule. Self immolation, the act of committing suicide via setting fire to one’s self, has in the past been used as a political based protest against the abuse of human rights, and suppressive governments . In addition, pro democratic students in Hong Kong have protested demanding the right to vote in their own leader. There was an ongoing protest against the proposed law change, by students pitching tents in the middle of Hong Kong and sleeping in them. 57 Year old man living in the camp, Thomas Hung, said, “The government right now is doing many shameful things, and we want to let all the Hong Kong people know that we are still here, we will not back off.” Over time, students finally packed their tents , concluding in a seven-hour raid, where 7,000 police officers arrested the final remaining 247 protesters who chose to remain. They removed wreckage and demolished all remanent of the protest swiftly. Both key issues at the time, were anti-government. …show more content…

Russia and Qatar are holding the 2018 and 2022 World Cups respectively. Homosexuality in Qatar is illegal, whilst Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, said gay people ‘should leave children alone.’ Robbie Rogers, a gay footballer, has used Sky Sports, a media institution that possesses global reach, to express his opinion on the lack of rights gay people receive. He states, ‘If you look at the next few world cups, they are in places where, if I were to go, I would possibly be imprisoned or beat up… it is pretty ridiculous.’ Similarly, Peter Greste, an Al Jazeera journalist, used the international media to help release himself from jail. On July 7th 2014, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told reporters that he would prefer the journalists be extradited than tried, as it damaged the international perception of Egypt. Following pressures from the media, on September 26th 2014, US president Barack Obama and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott met with the Egyptian president in regards to the release of Peter Greste. Finally, on November 13th, President Sisi allowed the exile of Peter Greste to Australia. Following Greste’s release, he spoke to Al Jazeera staff. He recalled that when his mother mentioned to him in jail ‘how big this is getting’ , he

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